Two pieces of legislation pending—both “health care reform” and “financial industry regulation” are W_A_A_Y too watered down to be passed by a party with any dignity left.

Outraged, thank you for posting some of the legislative actions of President Obama. I am sure many who support him will consider these prime examples of the “change we can believe in” stuff.
The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 is one of those 1000 page-plus documents that expands the amount of land designated to be wilderness and/or national treasures. In his signing statement, President Obama took exception to the part of the bill which said the Secretary of the Interior must consult local congressional office holders when appointing members of committees that affect their jurisdiction. In fact, the Ominibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 codifies the Interior Secretary’s power over these lands. So who is the Secretary of the Interior? A fellow named Ken Salazar, former Colorado senator, who has a mixed record at best. His support of Joe Lieberman over Ned Lamont revealed that Ken wanted to give war a chance. I guess sitting by the side of Alberto Gonzales during his A.G. confirmation hearings, and fighting against increasing C.A.F.E. standards… well all of that seems to have been airbrushed out of this newly found environmental champion’s resume, who is now the Secretary of the Interior. One can only hope that Mr. Salazar sees the light and acts responsibly.
The SCHIP is a no brainer. Only the coldest GOP and Dem wannabes would be against extending health insurance to children. But the next time you see someone smoking, tell them thank you, the 62 cent increase in Federal tobacco tax pays for it.
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act has all the pomposity associated with AmeriCorp’s creator, President Bill “new kind of democrat”  Clinton. If shoveling money into public boarding schools is a way to celebrate the “lion of the senate” legacy, this legislation is for you.

Re: MKS

Your comment: “This makes me think of a mother who lectures her children on cleaning up their mess, and then who empties a large, full garbage can on her kitchen floor.  You don’t clean up a mess by making it worse.”

It does…?  What kind of childhood did you have?  Sounds quite different from the norm.  Certainly no family is perfect, but what you describe is outside of that which most of us are familiar.  When you say “a mother who lectures her children on cleaning up their mess, and then who empties a large, full garbage can on her kitchen floor” is certainly out of the realm of the most of us.  Have you experienced this first-hand….?

Re: Rdv

Your comment: “Is there a Bush era policy that he isn’t expanding on or continuing?”

YES.

Pres. Obama signs the Omnibus Public Lands Mgt. Act of 2009
“This legislation—just to give you a sense of the scope—this legislation guarantees that we will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas for granted; but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share. That’s something all Americans can support.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/us/politics/30lands-text.html

Pres. Obama signs The Lilly Ledbetter law
“Barack Obama, drawing a line between his presidency and George Bush’s in his support for women’s rights, signed an equal pay law as his first piece of legislation today.</b>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/29/obama-white-house-ledbetter-equal-pay

Pres. Obama signs the SCHIP bill
“U.S. President Obama signed into law a bill expanding a popular health insurance program for children Wednesday, calling it a first step to healthcare reform.

“This is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American,” Obama said before signing an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to roughly 4.1 million children who currently aren’t covered by health insurance.”
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/02/04/UPI_NewsTrack_TopNews/UPI-59721233803754/

Pres Obama signs Serve America Act
“President Barack Obama Tuesday signed a national service bill that dramatically expands the AmeriCorps work force over the next 10 years.

The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act will “connect deeds to needs,” Obama said during the signing ceremony at the SEED School of Washington, a pubic boarding school.”
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/04/21/Obama-signs-national-service-bill/UPI-73181240347459/

The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act
“expands on the success of the Making Home Affordable Program first announced in February.  By reducing foreclosures around the country, the average homeowner could see their house price bolstered by as much as $6,000 as a result of this plan, and as many as 9 million homeowners could get help making their mortgages affordable and avoid preventable foreclosures. This bill makes this help easier to access and take advantage of, helps get credit flowing again, establishes protections for renters living in foreclosed homes, and establishes the right of a homeowner to know who owns their mortgage. It also provides $2.2 billion to address homelessness, helping families be part of the recovery one by one.”

The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act
“gives the federal government more tools to crack down on the kind of fraud that put thousands of hardworking families at risk of losing their homes despite doing everything right to live within their means. It expands the Department of Justice’s ability to prosecute at virtually every step of the process from predatory lending on Main Street to the manipulation on Wall Street. It also creates a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial practices that brought us to this point, so that we make sure it never happens again.”

This is definitely NOT continuing Bush policies, furthermore this is not the totality of it.  Where’ve you been?

This mop analogy is ridiculous. As someone who once had a job that called for mopping the entire floor of a shopping mall. I know for a fact that the crowd surrounding the President are clueless to what menial work actually is. I find it despicable that those whose talents lie in the manipulation of paper and fraudulent (but still within the legal limits) coercion, always seem to grab for working class rhetoric, in order to delude the hapless workers into believing that the big shots are really like the rest of us. A pox on their bipartisan house!

Really?
Is there a Bush era policy that he isn’t expanding on or continuing?

Maybe it is just me, but I find it ironic that a president calls out to grab a mop, at a fund raiser that costs each attending $30,400. (maximum legal limit) to access. I’m not the brightest bulb, but is this an example of “the new service economy” that nobody seems to notice?

Quote: “He then embraced a new campaign by the DNC that invites Republicans to “grab a mop” and help clean up what Democrats say is a mess created by the Bush administration.

“I don’t mind cleaning up the mess that some other folks made, that’s what I signed up to do,” Obama said.  “But while I’m there mopping the floor I don’t want someone saying ‘You’re not mopping fast enough or you’re not holding the mop the right way.’ Grab a mop! Why don’t you help clean up?” (no shit!)

You bet.  They have two arms and two legs… don’t they (at least in the metaphorical sense..)?  Grab a goddamn mop!  WTF?  Isn’t it indicative of NAYSAYERS and the flat out pillow-tufted arses to point the finger, all the while being the USELESS co-worker…. maybe a more pertinent view of their “stance” would be to “flip the finger” toward anyone and everyone who trys to help. 

Quote: “The president also noted the support healthcare reform has garnered from big-name Republicans such as the former Senate GOP leaders Bob Dole and Bill Frist.”

EXACTLY, Good for Pres. Obama AND Bill Frist and Bob Dole.  SOME people really do care.  Wasn’t Dole instrumental in making sure that people in America didn’t starve…?  I believe it was Dole who advanced the Food Stamp Program…. right…?

Quote: “You’ve got a whole bunch of Republicans who are saying ‘Yeah we should do this”  except those are all retired Republicans – Bob Dole and Bill Frist -  and last time I checked they are not socialist,” Obama said. “And they think it’s important to get this done. That’s a model for what everyone needs to be thinking.”

Good call Pres. Obama.  Good call. (Since the current ones are…. are…. is there a word for that…?)

It is a total waste of time to try to get Republicans to do anything responsible.  It is good politics however to continue to ask them to help.  This strategy is aimed at independents because Democrats know better.

Obama should not be pushing the current Senate Finanace Sub Bill—it is HORRIBLE. And it is not exactly GOP that are blocking a “public option”, although the only real solution is Medicare for All HR 676—we will do that sooner or later (we have to), but, the majority gets to decide how many wil have to die and suffer first.

Even HR 676 only begins the proces…think of it as a moral representation of what the uS stands for. If, with all of these riches, we cannot provide the basics of life for all citizens, the uS is hopeless.

President Obama should be passing out the mops to the likes of Kyl, Jindal, and
rest of the Repugni-cons calling individual attention to those Cons who are the
Congressional jihadis who allowed Little Boy Bush to destroy the country.

http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com